The Montauk Beach House, a motel and club in downtown Montauk, received a certificate of occupancy from the East Hampton Town Building Department on Tuesday, after the head building inspector agreed that the key issue — whether it was operating two different businesses — was a matter for the town’s Ordinance Enforcement Department.

    “I look at it, and it looks like a duck,” Tom Preiato, the building inspector, said Tuesday. Although he had previously said two businesses were at the site, which would trigger full site plan review by the planning board, he said on Tuesday that the fact that the club offers memberships for $1,100, in addition to 33 rooms for rent, is irrelevant unless actual invoices for club transactions can be produced.

    The planning board gave the Beach House unanimous site plan approval for a bar and gift shop without considering the overall site, following a public hearing on May 8. The conditions of approval, which were written by Kathryn Santiago, the attorney for the planning board, include a statement that the Beach House “shall not conduct said activities without proper approval,” referring to those activities offered by the club.

    There is no question that the motel at the Beach House is legal, even though the property is zoned for business rather than motel use, because it pre-exists that zoning. Mr. Preiato had previously said that the ownership team, Larry Siedlick and Chris Jones, could expand the use and run a nightclub or music venue, but only if they received approval after undergoing full review.

    In a memo to Ms. Santiago on May 10, he wrote, “It appears that is an additional use on the property, even though it is not clearly defined in the code.” He goes on to say allowing persons who are not motel guests to use the facilities, “would be a burden on the public” because it already has inadequate parking. Besides the parking issue, he wrote that allowing such expanded use would strain the septic system.

    Had the Beach House been required after undergoing full review to provide additional parking or pay into a town parking fund, the stakes would have been high. The Montauk Brewery, for example, which is nearby, had been asked to kick $45,000 into the fund, although the town board eventually voted to allow the brewery to count three spaces in an adjoining lot.

    Patrick Schutte, who along with Robert Schaeffer is the longest serving member of the planning board, addressed the issue at a meeting in January. “I can name 10 other applicants who had to pay into it. . . . I don’t think the town board or we can grant an easement on this.”

    The $45,000 fee the brewery faced would seem dwarfed by the potential fee for the Montauk Beach House. According to the town code, a “nightclub, disco, tavern, bar, or dance hall” is required to either have on site, or else to pay into the parking fund for, “two [spaces] for each three persons of rated capacity, plus one per employee.” Using that formula, the total number of spaces needed to be provided or paid for by the Beach House would be about 290, including the motel side of the business, which would trigger another 1.25 for each of the 33 bedrooms.

    None of the spaces surrounding the site would count toward that number, according to the Planning Department, because they are in the public right of way. Using a $15,000 per space estimate for the Montauk Brewery, the Beach House fee could be as high as $4.35 million.

    Meanwhile, heated rhetoric has continued to be exchanged among the Beach House’s detractors and supporters. Terry Casey, who said he was responsible for booking live music and D.J.’s during the club’s initial season, and who said he was dissuaded from speaking at the May 8 hearing, has posted a recording of a phone message he alleges is from Mr. Jones on YouTube.

    In it, the speaker says, “You’re going to be in trouble. If you wish to discuss this, please give me a call, otherwise, good luck. You’re [inaudible] two partners with $200 million behind them. You have taken this to a position that is untenable.”

    Told about the recording last month, Mr. Jones said it was not his voice and pointed out that Mr. Casey is a D.J. and undoubtedly familiar with mixing and looping recordings.

    After the May 8 hearing, Mr. Casey said he wrote a letter to the board, detailing his allegations about the numbers of people who had come to the Beach House when he worked there. Because the letter was submitted after the hearing was closed, it was not considered part of the record.

    East Hampton Town will receive a $536,425 state grant to renovate its former town hall building, town and New York State officials announced yesterday.

    The award was among $12 million in Local Government and Efficiency Program grants given to 13 municipalities based on a demonstration of model financial practices and in recognition of “significant and innovative actions that reduce the property tax burden confronting residents,” according to a State Department of State press release. The money is to be used for projects that will provide recurring savings.

    East Hampton received the maximum award amount per capita and was singled out for praise in the state press release.

     “The Town of East Hampton implemented a comprehensive organizational restructuring of town government, downsizing 26 separate departments into 13 departments through attrition, staff reduction, and consolidation of functions to create a more efficient and cost-effective government model. The Town of East Hampton realized a savings of $4.2 million dollars through this re-engineering initiative, representing an 18-percent drop in the tax levy,” the release read.

    At a news conference yesterday morning, Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, who took office in 2010 after the resignation of former supervisor Bill McGintee amid a financial mismanagement scandal, called the grant a “performance-based award given by an objective group of evaluators.”

     “What’s so rewarding about this grant,” he said, “is the fact that it’s validation of behavior.”

    In two terms of office, Mr. Wilkinson and his budget officer, Len Bernard, have presided over the completion of forensic accounting measures needed to ascertain amounts transferred between town funds, which have been identified and properly paid back, to pinpoint a more than $27 million deficit accumulated under the previous administration, and successfully lobbied the state legislature for permission to issue bonds to cover the shortfall.

    “We’ve delivered a brand of competencies that generated this brand of recognition,” Mr. Wilkinson said yesterday. “Think of that — it’s the only government in Suffolk County that’s been recognized.”

    Mr. Wilkinson credited the work of Mr. Bernard as well as Charlene Kagel, the town’s chief auditor, and Nicole Ficeto, the grants coordinator for the town, with the success of East Hampton’s grant application. The application, said a press release from the town, highlighted efforts in 2010 through 2012 to reduce and reorganize the town staff as well as “selected program reductions” and “the establishment of a myriad of internal control procedures.”

    Mr. Wilkinson said that cautious financial practices must continue. “It’s a continual approach,” he said yesterday, “an objective set of principles that are here . . . and should be here in 2018.”

    The grant money will be used to help pay for renovations to the old town hall building to create an open floor plan described as a “European office landscape.” The design aesthetic, which originated in Germany, was “intended to provide a more collaborative and humane work environment.”

    “A more conducive work environment will create greater work flow efficiencies and positively impact employee confidence levels,” the town wrote in its grant request.

    Additional grant money, including grants targeted for creation of an environmentally friendly “green” building, may also be sought for the project.

    Sag Harbor Village Mayor Brian Gilbride won re-election by 11 votes on Tuesday night after a tense contest among four candidates. Sandra Schroeder, a former co-worker of Mr. Gilbride’s who was village clerk and administrator for 20 years, was the runner-up, with 168 votes.

    Ed Gregory, an incumbent village board member, lost his seat. His position and the one left open by Timothy Culver in August will be filled by Ed Deyermond, a former village mayor, and Ken O’Donnell, a Main Street businessman.

    The air was thick with anticipation before, during, and after the announcement of the votes, and yet there were few predictions, what with so many candidates involved. Several of the dozens of bystanders remained for the calling of 23 absentee ballots, as the vote was so close. In all, 556 residents weighed in, a decline from recent elections.

    “I’m glad that so many people got involved in the race,” Ms. Schroeder said after the results were final. “That’s wonderful.”

    Finishing third in the mayoral race was Bruce Tait, the chairman of the village’s harbor committee, who received 142 votes. Former Mayor Pierce Hance trailed with 85 votes.

    In the race for village board, Mr. Deyermond, who ran on the Progressive Party line, received the most votes, 363. Mr. O’Donnell, who ran on the Citizens for Common Sense line, earned his seat with 336 votes. Mr. Gregory, who has served the board for decades, received 240 votes. Bruce Stafford, who served one term before losing last year to Kevin Duchemin, got 139 votes.

    Mr. Deyermond told The Star after the final tally that he was “humbled by the count.” He added, “Now that the drama is over, the work can begin.” Mr. Deyermond has served as mayor as well as a board member for the village in the past, and has retired from full-time government work after 33 years.

    “Residents of Sag Harbor Village elected three individuals with three different viewpoints and life experiences to create a level playing field,” Mr. O’Donnell, a 45-year-old father of two young children and the owner of La Superica restaurant, said yesterday. He said he thinks the village will benefit from his business background as well as from Mr. Deyermond’s civic experience as Southampton Town assessor, among other posts.

    Mr. O’Donnell said recently that he has worked for and with law firms and managed businesses with up to 125 employees. He now hopes to work together with the board “toward positive accomplishments for the village. I’m really looking forward to getting sworn in on July 1 and getting to work.”

    Mayor Gilbride shook the hands of the new board members when the count was over. He will now have a full board to work with after it had operated with an empty seat since the resignation of Mr. Culver, who lives on North Haven. Mr. Deyermond told The Star recently that he had sent the mayor a letter requesting the seat, to no avail.

    Robby Stein, who joins Mr. Duchemin in filling out the rest of the board, was present for the action, telling The Star afterward, “There are a lot of negotiations coming up. Brian is a tough negotiator.” He added that he hopes the new members will support issues near and dear to his heart, such as preservation of the wetlands and village parks.

    Mr. Deyermond and Mr. O’Donnell will take their seats at the next village board meeting, on July 9.

    Two proposed houses, in two different neighborhoods, had neighbors seeing red at public hearings during a marathon East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at Town Hall on April 16.

    In both cases, the board concluded that the wisest path for the property owners might be to break bread with their neighbors, to see if a compromise could be worked out. And in both cases, the applicants offered compromises on Tuesday, although whether they would satisfy the opposition remains to be seen.

    Steven Dubb bought a house at 142 Central Avenue in Beach Hampton in August. It was described by several speakers at the meeting as a dilapidated eyesore, looking more like a haunted house than a beach house, with doors askew, its deck collapsing, and overgrown shrubbery, as shown in photographs taken by Don Cirillo, a board member.

    Mr. Dubb paid a little more than $1 million for the property after eyeing the land for several years. He had thought he would replace the house and then sell it for a profit. His plans changed, however, he said, when he fell in love and got engaged. Mr. Dubb, who was listed in Hamptons magazine as one of the East End’s 50 most eligible bachelors in 2010, is vice president of the Beechwood Organization, a family company that is a developer of houses and communities, both on Long Island and nationwide.

     The property is on the corner of Central Avenue and Cliff Road, which, with Bayberry Lane on its eastern border, forms a large rectangular block lined with small houses, all of which surround a two-and-a-half acre wetland owned by the town.

    The plans presented to the board called for replacing the single-story, 1,024-square-foot house with a two-story house of 3,060 square feet, as well as replacing an existing swimming pool and deck and removing a brick patio. In addition to a natural resources permit, variances would be necessary for the pool, house, decking, and septic system, because they would be closer to the wetlands than allowed by the town code.

    The size of the new house, the placement of the septic system, and a proposed 150-foot-long retaining wall were all targeted by neighbors, with five letters received by the board in opposition and several neighbors showing up in person. The wall, they said, would exacerbate already bad flooding in the area after substantial rainfalls.

    Rona Klopman, the president of the homeowners organization in the area, the Amagansett East Association, said it was constantly flooded, a fact apparently supported by photographs taken after rainstorms, as well as a 2010 e-mail from Scott King, then-town highway superintendent, in which he noted that the roadway directly in front of the property had been impassable for two weeks following a major storm.

    Ms. Klopman also disputed a point made by Mr. Dubb’s attorney, Eric Bregman of Farrell, Fritz of Bridgehampton, that the size of the house was in keeping with the neighborhood.

     “There are 315 homes in Beach Hampton, she said, calling the proposed size of the house totally inappropriate and saying that larger houses Mr. Bregman had referenced were on larger parcels.

    Brian Frank, the East Hampton Town Planning Department’s chief environmental analyst, criticized the linear layout of the septic system, as opposed to the clover-leaf pattern usually installed in East Hampton.

    “How do you answer the neighbors’ objection that this expansion, by almost three times the size of the house, won’t affect the character of the neighborhood?” Alex Walter, the board’s chairman, asked Mr. Bregman. “I disagree with you on a legal basis,” Mr. Bregman responded. “Is it too big? It is not. The legislature has said that it is okay.” He used the term “legal basis” several times, possibly intimating court action if thwarted.

    Furthermore, he said the project would vastly improve the wetlands. He pointed out that the new pool would be farther away from the sensitive area and that the brick patio would be removed.

    Mr. Frank argued that any possible benefits to the wetlands were outweighed by the project’s “aggressive” size and scope.

    “My main concern are the flooding issues,” Louis Ferolito, whose house is diagonally opposite the Dubb property, said. “I can’t afford flood insurance anymore from the two claims I did have from water just penetrating and flooding” my house, he said. “I don’t want to live in Lake Ferolito.”

    The planned retaining wall, which would line the property, would be as tall as three feet in some places. It is necessitated by the need to place the septic tanks above the level of groundwater.

    “Flooding is worsening in Beach Hampton for a couple of reasons,” Mr. Frank explained. “This is an area that is close to sea level,” he said. When owners try to get maximum use of their properties and raise the grade level of the property, they increase the likelihood of flooding, he said.

    “I am building a smaller pool, because we are in the dunes by the ocean,” Reiko Gomez, another neighbor, said. “That is kind of the agreement we have all made.”

    At the end of the session, Mr. Walter suggested that the board could keep the record open for two weeks to allow the applicant and the neighbors to discuss possible changes. On Tuesday, Mr. Dubb turned in modified plans. “We met with three of the neighbors,” he said. “We have drastically reduced the size of the house and have taken it outside of the wetlands.”

    He also said he had agreed to put up substantial screening in front of the retaining wall, although Ms. Klopman warned that the promised screening would be in the town’s right of way. “I feel we have met all reasonable concerns as best we can,” Mr. Dubb said.

On Crooked Highway

    Earlier on April 16, on the other application that brought out a group of opposed neighbors, the board heard from Laurie Wiltshire of Land Planning Services, representing Juan Figueroa, who had initially applied for what appeared to be massive clearing of white pines on his three-and-a-half acre property, at 15 Crooked Highway. He proposed a 12,332-square-foot residence, a 9,500-square-foot reflecting pool, an 1,800-square-foot swimming pool, and over 4,000 square feet of decking and walkways.

    Several neighbors were visibly upset with the proposal. However, Ms. Wiltshire said, the plan had already been radically scaled down. The house was now to be 10,260 square feet. The reflecting pool and decking were gone from the new plan, and the swimming pool was reduced in size.

     Still, the neighbors expressed concern about the planned location of the house, only 35 feet off a common driveway that leads to Crooked Highway, as well as clearing of white pines. The setback of the house had been calculated from Crooked Highway itself rather than the driveway.

    “To us, what we call Crooked Highway is what you call the driveway,” Susan Denenholz, a neighbor, said. “We have to go by how it is zoned,” Mr. Walter responded.

    Ms. Denenholz called the house “wildly out of keeping with the character,” saying it would be more than twice the size of the others in the neighborhood.

    Mr. Figueroa indicated through Ms. Wiltshire that he was aware of his neighbors’ concerns and would like to address them. The board granted Mr. Figueroa two weeks to meet with the neighbors, as it was to do later in the evening with Mr. Dupp.

    Ms. Wiltshire and Mr. Figueroa were seen in the hallway outside the meeting room, blueprints spread out, discussing possible changes with the neighbors, for quite some time.

    Then, on Tuesday, as in the Dubb matter, Ms. Wiltshire filed a plan again modifying the application, with the house being cut down 5,000 square feet and pulled back from the common driveway by over 100 feet.

    The board is expected to rule on the applications within 62 days from Tuesday.

    Both houses of the New York State Legislature have passed a measure that would allow the municipalities of East Hampton, Southampton, and Southold to transfer land, at little or no cost, to the trustees of those townships.

    The measure, which awaits Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s signature, was championed by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle of Port Jefferson.

    Typically, said Mr. Thiele, under the general municipal law, local governments can transfer land to other local governments for public purposes at no cost or reduced cost. However, such transfers may only be made to municipal corporations defined as county, town, village, or fire district.

    The trustees of the freeholders and commonalty of East Hampton, Southampton, and Southold, elected bodies created in the 17th century by the Nicholls and Dongan Patents, are autonomous and are not defined as municipal corporations.

    “They would greatly benefit from the ability to receive land at no cost from the county or other local governments,” Mr. Thiele said.

    The bill also provides that real property received by trustees in this way cannot be sold, transferred, leased, exchanged, or otherwise conveyed unless by an act of the legislature. 

    Although historically, all the East End’s independent town trustees have tried to keep the state at arms’ length so as to maintain their special authorities, Diane McNally, the clerk of the East Hampton trustees, said she saw no drawbacks to her nine-member board becoming a municipal corporation.

East Hampton Town

Seek Food Truck and Pool Bids

    East Hampton Town is soliciting bids from food truck vendors interested in leasing the exclusive right to sell at Gin Beach in Montauk. Bids must be received by 3 p.m. on Wednesday by the town’s Purchasing Department, which can provide specifications.

    Bids are also being sought for a rehabilitation — by marble dusting — of the pools at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter. They are due by next Thursday.

    Stephen Lynch, the East Hampton Town highway superintendent, will take on the additional responsibilities of supervising the Sanitation Department, according to a recent vote of the town board. The former Sanitation Department head, Patrick Keller, retired as of March 27. Mr. Lynch will be paid an annual stipend of $15,000 for the additional duties.

Overton’s Campaign Kick-Off

    Fred Overton will kick off his campaign for East Hampton Town councilman with a fund-raiser on Sunday at the Harbor Bistro on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton. Mr. Overton, who is running on the Republican and Independence tickets, is the current town clerk.

    The party on Sunday will run from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets cost $50 in advance and $75 at the door. Advance tickets are available through Mr. Overton or Tina Piette in Amagansett.

    In a split vote on Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board decided not to grant a zone change request by the owners of the Napeague property that houses Cyril’s bar and restaurant.

    Bonnie and Michael Dioguardi, who own the site as well as an adjacent parcel, had asked that the properties, now zoned for residential use, be placed instead in a neighborhood business zone.

The change, they argued, would allow Cyril’s, which was the site of a bar and restaurant before the zoning code was established, and is allowed to continue but not to expand, to resolve a number of zoning code violations and create several off-road parking spaces.

    The board held a public hearing on the idea, and had the Planning Department prepare an initial assessment of the potential environmental impacts of the change before voting on the proposal. Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Councilwoman Theresa Quigley cast yes votes on the zone change. The other three board members, Dominick Stanzione, Peter Van Scoyoc, and Sylvia Overby, voted no.

    A plan devised by a task force to “spread the pain” of helicopter noise over three routes into and out of East Hampton Airport was supported by a majority of the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday, although officials acknowledged it would make no one happy.

    A switch last year in the predominant helicopter route, sending most of the craft over Jessup’s Neck in Noyac as well as over hundreds of Noyac and Sag Harbor houses, caused residents there, and their elected officials — Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, Representative Tim Bishop, and New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. — to descend on the East Hampton Town Board asking for a change before this year’s busy season.

    The task force was made up of representatives of several civic groups, regional airports, and the Towns of Southampton, Shelter Island, and Southold. The plan it came up with was outlined for the town board at a work session on Tuesday by Jim Brundige, the East Hampton Airport manager. Though the town has no authority to require aircraft to use particular routes, protocols are usually discussed and agreed upon with industry representatives, and, said Mr. Brundige, compliance with suggested routing is good. He is now expected to work with a helicopter pilots’ association to put the new guidelines in place.

    The new protocol limits the flights over the Jessup’s Neck area, which intersects with a “waypoint” where helicopters turn off an F.A.A.-mandated east-west route along the north shore of Long Island. That route is now to be used only by incoming aircraft.

    Half the departing helicopters will be sent on a new route over Barcelona Neck in East Hampton, “with the intention” that helicopters be at least 3,000 feet above ground by that point, Mr. Brundige said, though conditions and individual helicopter performance may vary. Other outgoing helicopters, as well as a percentage of incoming craft, will be asked to use a route along the south shore, accessing the airport over Georgica.

    “The issue over the last few years was the inequity that we threw this over a neighboring town,” Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said at the meeting.

    Southampton Supervisor Throne-Holst attended the session, representing, she said, not only her constituents but Southampton Councilwoman Christine Scalera, Mr. Thiele, and Mr. Bishop. She expressed concern that East Hampton might not implement the routes proposed by the task force, but she called the effort by East Hampton to distribute aircraft noise more widely “the right and courageous thing to do.”

    “We had a very clear understanding that what we worked on there, we were committed to,” Ms. Throne-Holst said, “. . . that what we came up with there was the protocol for the 2013 season.”

    “Perfect — no. Better? Most certainly,” she said. “So here we are, the Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend, and I have to say that I bring collective concern from Congressman Bishop, Assemblyman Thiele, and my constituents that that is not what is going to happen.”

    The majority East Hampton Town Board consensus served to alleviate that concern. But even with the new routes, Ms. Throne-Holst said, “No one will be completely happy. It’s a problem that essentially doesn’t have a solution, as long as there’s an airport. I understand the conundrum; most citizens will understand the conundrum — some won’t, many will.”

    “The board has an obligation to ensure that we’re not unfairly burdening one group,” East Hampton Councilwoman Theresa Quigley said.

    However, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said that given his primary responsibility to represent East Hampton constituents, “I cannot recommend additional routes.” In addition, he said, “I am extremely disappointed that we are establishing what amounts to a helicopter superhighway over our most protected and pristine parts of town. We are going to greatly diminish the experience of visitors there,” he said.

    “If we’re going to share the pain, let’s spread it even more widely,” he said, suggesting a 360-degree spectrum of routes. That, Mr. Brundige said, would be impractical to implement, though not impossible.

    “Route changes do not address the problem,” Mr. Van Scoyoc continued. “I think that the whole discussion of routes really takes the focus off dealing with the real problem. Rerouting traffic doesn’t alleviate the problem; it only displaces the burden. Unless you pursue restrictions that you limit the number of impacts, or reduce the number of impacts. . . . We have no legal control unless we have control over our airport,” he said. 

    The acceptance of F.A.A. grants leaves the town tied to the agency’s operational guidelines for the airport. Whether the town could, or should, eschew further grants, and how the town might position itself to gain greater autonomy over airport operating decisions, such as potentially limiting its use or the hours of operation, has been a subject of contentious debate. Existing “assurances,” or agreements, with the F.A.A., will expire after 2014, and the town has begun to gather aircraft noise data that could be used to make a case for local control.

    The key focus, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby agreed, should be “on the end of 2014, and getting rid of the F.A.A. assurances. . . . “I’m very conflicted,” she said, as far as interim decisions about what to do for this summer season and next, noting that the board will inevitably hear from East Hampton residents under the proposed new helicopter routes. But, she said, “I believe in being a good neighbor, and would expect the same from Southampton.”

    She endorsed the suggested new routes reluctantly, as did Councilman Dominick Stanzione. “I’m very reluctantly going to not oppose what Jim’s proposing,” Mr. Stanzione said.

    “Let everyone get disturbed, and let everyone come to this town board and say, ‘this is not the quality of life’ ,” Ms. Overby said.

    “How many lines do you have for noise complaints?” she asked Mr. Brundige rhetorically. “Just one? Tongue-in-cheek, I’m suggesting you increase it.”

    Southampton Councilman Chris Nuzzi was nominated by the Suffolk County Republican Committee last week to challenge the five-term incumbent Jay Schneiderman for Suffolk County legislator. Mr. Schneiderman, a member of the Independence Party, is seeking his sixth and final two-year term.

    Mr. Nuzzi is serving his second and final term as a member of the Southampton Town Board.

    Mr. Nuzzi cited the county’s budget, the environment, and state and federal mandates that he said handcuff the county as top issues in this race. Southampton, he said, “is fiscally stable at a time when many other municipalities are in distress, Suffolk County being one.”

    Conservative budgeting and practices, and the ability to reinvent government, are important, he said, “especially throughout these difficult times. We’ve been able to do that without increasing the tax levy three years straight while reducing staff through attrition — not layoffs — so services weren’t impacted. I certainly believe that some of the commonsense practical solutions we’ve brought to Southampton can be brought to Suffolk County as well,” he said.

    A continued commitment, on the county level, to the environment is also crucial, Mr. Nuzzi said Monday, calling for further county cooperation with towns on land preservation efforts. “As a town board member, it’s been vitally important to have that partnership with the county on certain acquisitions — in particular, some of the very expensive acquisitions on the eastern end of the town. The county’s presence and participation has helped us to make a lot of those acquisitions a reality. We need to continue the county’s commitment on environmental preservation, and that means funding programs as well.”

    Hurricane Sandy, he said, highlights the importance of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Fire Island to Montauk Reformulation Study. “All of us should be coming together to make sure that plan is not just completed, but funding associated with beach renourishment for areas most at risk [is appropriated]. We tend to look at this somewhat territorially, [but] there has to be a comprehensive plan for all areas. Through our own policies we have initiated what I believe are good programs focused on restoration of areas of beach that have been damaged or are at risk. We’ve implemented those districts without burdening the taxpayer — those are privately funded by individuals who are going to most directly benefit.” But, he added, “there is a tangible benefit to the rest of the community.”

    In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Schneiderman referred to many of the same issues, including “the thousands of acres of land I’ve been involved in preserving.” He also cited his attention to “critical issues like [county] buses running on Sundays, and adding an extra lane to the main road coming out to our area, County Road 39.”

    “I have had 10 consecutive years without any increases in the county property tax in my district, East Hampton and Southampton Town, which is a significant accomplishment, particularly in light of the county’s fiscal challenges during the recession,” Mr. Schneiderman said.

    On Hurricane Sandy and the prospect of future extreme weather events, Mr. Schneiderman said that the planet is clearly warming, weather patterns are changing, and sea level is rising. “We do need to rethink our coastal policies because of it,” he said, “but the most immediate urgency is getting sand put back in place, particularly in downtown Montauk, where you have hotels in jeopardy of being washed away. We need a major beach nourishment project there, and Congressman Bishop has been working on it. I’ve been in close communication with his office.”

    Of his opponent, Mr. Nuzzi said, “I have differing viewpoints on many things as it relates to Jay’s presence in the legislature. First and foremost, you have to want to be there, and I do. I’ve gotten an opportunity I’m very thankful to the people of Southampton for. I want to continue in public service and saw this as a position where I could contribute. I don’t know exactly what he wants to do, but I can tell you this is a position I’m excited about seeking.” Mr. Nuzzi works for Skyline TRG Title Agency, a New York City title insurance company, and earned a master’s degree in public policy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He lives in Westhampton Beach.

    Mr. Schneiderman served two terms as East Hampton Town supervisor, elected on the Republican ticket. He was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature in 2003 and ran unopposed on the Republican, Democratic, Independence, Conservative, and Working Families Party lines in 2009. He switched party affiliation to become a member of the Independence Party before the 2011 election, then ran on the Democratic, Working Families, and Independence lines, winning by a wide margin.

    Mr. Schneiderman considered a 2013 run for East Hampton Town supervisor on the Republican ticket, and was named by the Republicans as their top choice, but opted to seek a final term in the Legislature. He lives in Montauk.

    “I’ll continue to work hard for my constituents,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “I believe this region needs full-time representation. Otherwise, we’ll be taken advantage of, as we have in the past.”

    With summer approaching, the Division of Vector Control in Suffolk County’s Department of Public Works will soon resume its battle against mosquitoes.

    “We’ll basically be conducting surveillance for mosquitoes and primarily treating breeding sites,” said Dominick Ninivaggi, superintendent of the county’s Division of Vector Control. It’s an approach similar to previous years and conforms to a long-term plan passed by the County Legislature in 2007, over objections of environmentalists and the county’s Council on Environmental Quality.

    In 2007, the East Hampton Town Board adopted a resolution asking the county to discontinue use of methoprene, but state law prohibits local municipalities from enacting their own laws with respect to pesticide use, Mr. Ninivaggi told the board last year.

    The county rarely uses adulticides in East Hampton, Mr. Ninivaggi said. “The only community where we’ve had to use them is Beach Hampton, where we’ve had severe problems in the last couple years. We try to control in the larval stage.”

    Last year, despite several cases of West Nile virus in humans in the county and positive tests of mosquitoes in East Hampton, some residents and officials on the South Fork objected to the spraying of methoprene, a larvicide, and resmethrin, an adulticide, citing potential health hazards to humans and non-target species including lobsters and crabs. A 2012 study by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also reported the existence of residues of both pesticides in lobsters harvested from Long Island Sound, though Mr. Ninivaggi stated that that could not have resulted from Suffolk County’s application, citing its minimal use and the distance between application sites and the Sound.

    Deborah Klughers, an East Hampton Town Trustee, has had discussions with Mr. Ninivaggi about vector control that she said included concerns about the pesticides’ potential health effects on humans and nontarget species. But a lack of information dispensed to the public, she said, is another serious concern. “Not only are people misunderstanding what the program is, they’re not being given an opportunity to take any precaution,” she said. “They just get sprayed. If the public knew what was going on, maybe they’d be more outraged. Notify the public, and seek alternatives,” she said.

    She wants the town to adopt a more aggressive and preventive approach to vector control. “This town can do a lot of things on the municipal level. I’ll try my best as a trustee, but there’s not enough time in the day for me,” she said. The Highway Department, she suggested, should examine catch basins, and the Sanitation Department should eliminate any standing water from its property.

    Public service announcements in the media advising residents as to steps they can take would help, she said. “Birdbaths, dog bowls — they need to be empty. No standing water, in tires, buckets. They should drill holes an inch off the bottom of garbage pails so the water can drain out. They shouldn’t be out at dawn or dusk, or [should] put on long sleeves. If people have ponds, they can use killifish or eastern mosquitofish,” she said.

    Locally, there is a large population of killifish, which feed on insect larvae, said Mark Abramson, a senior environmental analyst in the town’s Natural Resources Department. “We have closed off some vector ditches in Accabonac [Harbor] and Northwest Creek, which would keep vectors from stormwater input into the bays,” he said. “We’re also trying to keep the killifish that will eat the larvae in those areas.”

    But, Mr. Abramson added, “The complaints on mosquitoes outweigh the complaints from people who want to protect anything besides mosquitoes. If they don’t spray, they’re going to get a lot more complaints than from people who are concerned about wildlife or health. But they use the least amount of invasive chemicals to try and specifically target the larval mosquitoes.”

    Above all, Ms. Klughers said, “The public has a right to know what the government is doing to them and their environment. Whether it’s good or bad is another discussion, but if the public can know they can take precautions.” Fishermen, she said, have complained about aerial spraying directly above them, as have people kayaking in local waters. “People don’t know what to do. I get people constantly telling me this. They’re just not informed,” she said.

    Informing the public is challenging, Mr. Ninivaggi said, because it is difficult to predict precisely when a helicopter will reach a particular area. Wind conditions are also a factor in when and whether aerial spraying will be conducted at a given time. When an adulticide is to be applied, he said, “We use the county’s code red system to phone telephones in the area. For the aerial treatment of salt marshes, we have an e-mail list. We’re always looking for ways to improve public notice.”

    Residents can join a “no-spray” registry by downloading a form from the county’s Division of Vector Control Web site and submitting it by fax. The county will “make a good faith effort,” according to the site, to exclude registrants’ property by stopping adulticide spraying from trucks within 150 feet of either side of their property. The registry does not apply to larvicide, nor will it be in effect in the event that the Commissioner of Health declares a public health emergency.